The Unexpected Visitor
by lovetracy
Summary: Set after 6x01. Brooke tries to deal with the accident and finds help from an unlikely person.
1. The Unexpected Visitor

Set after Season Six Episode One "Touch Me I'm Going To Scream, Part 1"

**Disclaimer: One Tree Hill is a copyright of the CW. I do not own any of it, however, I wish I owned Jamie. **

Chapter One- The Unexpected Visitor

"Hi, you reached Peyton Sawyer, soon to be Mrs. Peyton Scott's cell. I'm not available right now so leave a message and I will try to return your call maybe after my honeymoon!"

-Beep-

Brooke Davis didn't know what hurt worse; her best friend since kindergarten not informing her about her quickie wedding, or that in her time of need Peyton was unreachable. Out of frustration, Brooke threw the phone across the living room, which surprisingly didn't make her feel any better.

'_I need to start depending on myself. No one will protect you, Brooke Davis.' _The more Brooke kept repeating this statement, the more she believed it to be true. Peyton and Lucas left to Vegas for their wedding, Mouth and Millicent left for Omaha because of Mouth's great promotion, and she knew too well she couldn't rely on her so-called mother as far as she could throw her. Then it suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Deb!" Brooke shouted and hastily swung her front door open only remembering to bring her sunglasses to hide the evidence.

Brooke arrived at the front door of Haley and Nathan Scott's house. Unsure of who would be answering on the other side of the door she began to think of the consequences of her rash actions. _Please, do not let Jamie or Haley answer the door, please!_ Brooke knocked on the door twice thinking that it should suffice.

Two minutes passed and Brooke began to lose hope, but as she turned around and headed back to her car she heard,

"Brooke?"

She turned around and there was Nathan Scott in his regular solid royal blue sweater and dark wash denim jeans. She once more took a couple of steps on the porch making sure she didn't stand too close to Nathan just in case he could see right through her sunglasses.

"Hi, I was just wondering if…umm…Deb was here?" Brooke asked hesitantly while adjusting her sunglasses.

Puzzled Nathan responded, "Actually she isn't, she went with Jamie to the zoo and Haley is still at school. Do you want me to tell her you were asking for her?"

Brooke had that sinking feeling that it was a bad idea to even be here so she retracted, " No it's fine, I was just seeing if she would want me to take Jamie off her hands next week since I heard she has some secret boyfriend now." _Good excuse, Brooke. Now hopefully Nathan buys it._

Nathan frowned at the thought of his mother and the secret horn-dog boyfriend. Changing the subject Nathan stated, "You know Brooke, I never really got to say thanks for helping out with Jamie when I wasn't really a good --"

"You are a good father…" Now Brooke realizing that she understood more of what Nathan was going through, "and it's my pleasure, I love Jamie to death."

Somehow talking about Jamie and death to Nathan made Brooke's smiling face fade instantly shifting to a frown at the thought of her near death experience last night. She really hoped that Nathan didn't notice.

"Look, I know we're not really close, but is something wrong?" Nathan asked worriedly.

_Crap he noticed, but then again isn't that something that I want? Then again I definitely do not like being the damsel in distress. _Unaware of how long she had been rambling on in her head she said once again, " I'm fine, really, well I better get going I have a lot of work to do at _Clothes Over Bros_."

Still worried and curious Nathan let her go.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first story ever written so please review kindly. Thanks!


	2. Answers To My Questions I Cannot Find

Chapter Two- The Answers To My Questions I Cannot Find

_Am I really ready to see my store? Will people ever shop there again after this mess? Will I still have a company? One thing is for sure; Victoria will sure as hell use this against me to steal my company away from me. _

Brooke no longer needed to walk into her store she merely just had to push the door open and walk right in. As soon as she stepped in and removed her sunglasses, flashes of last night appeared before her eyes. Clothes were scattered everywhere. Mannequins that once stood up high now all lay on the floor unable to support itself back up. Brooke's head was reeling with all the questions circulating through her head.

_Why did he do this to me? Why did it have to be my store? Why couldn't I have just been more careful? Why didn't I see this coming? How could I let this happen? How could I just let him hurt me? _

Brooke clutched her temple as it began to throb in pain from the all the questions and images she had in her mind as if she was watching a movie of some poor pathetic naive girl. It was all just too much for her so she ran the opposite direction as far as she could crashing into something hard.

She yelled out a loud scream as her nightmares began to resurface once more today thinking the burglar wanted to finish what he started. Brooke tried to free herself from the man's grip and as she looked up to see the man holding her, she collapsed on the floor and began to cry hysterically.

"Shh… god, Brooke it's okay." Nathan consoled her as he was holding her still enough to view the damage of her face. Brooke cried even harder for this is the first time that she felt comfortable by an unlikely visitor.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for such a REALLY SHORT chapter, but I promise the story will get interesting in the future chapters. Thanks!


	3. Politeness Matters Most

Chapter Three- Politeness Matters Most

Nathan took Brooke back to her place and once he got there he tried searching for cups in her kitchen. Brooke finally settled down on the couch and wrapped the quilt on her couch around her body. Her eyes weighed heavily even more so now not only because they were bruised, but also because of her excessive crying that made them puffy.

"Here, take this." Nathan handed her a towel filled with ice. Nathan started to rummage once more in his search for cups.

"Nathan," Brooke was thinking about asking him why he was at _Clothes Over Bros_ today, but decided to be more thankful than suspicious, "it's on the right hand corner above the sink."

Sure enough there it was just where she said and he started to make her hot cocoa. Waiting for the water to heat up, Nathan sat down across from Brooke. He looked at her more thoroughly now, not looking at her physical state of discolored bruises across her face, but how her body language showed she was in fear and lonely just as he had been when he was still rehabilitating from his accident.

He paid for his mistakes of not walking away when some idiot kept provoking him, urging Nathan to hit him. Hell, even his marriage paid for it, Jamie paid for it, and his basketball career faded away way too quickly because of his selfishness. Now, Nathan was trying his best to get back into shape for basketball, become a better father for Jamie, and just all around trying to be more greatful for his family and friends.

"Did you tell Lucas or Peyton?" Nathan asked because he was conscious of the silence in the living room.

Brooke just shook her head slowly. Nathan stood up, reached for her home phone, and started dialing Lucas's cell.

"NO!" Brooke yelled as she grabbed Nathan's hand in hers. Still out of breath from all her crying, " I don't…want…to bother...honeymoon."

"Brooke, I think you are more important than any honeymoon to them! Let me call."

She pleaded, "Please," and Nathan paused for a moment looking down at her hand and then put the receiver down.

It felt like it had been four days that she was laying on the couch talking to Nathan. He asked her so many questions that somehow she did not even feel anything anymore, just numb. For every question he asked, she answered politely.

She put down her cup of cocoa, looked at her watch, and noticed it was already past three.Nathan also looked at his watch and realized it had been a half hour that they had been talking and he needed to go back home to take care of Jamie while Deb went on another one of her dates with the horn-dog.

Nathan, already heading to the door, told Brooke that he needed to get home for Jamie or else Haley would have his head if he were late. She smiled sweetly at him and she requested that he did not tell anyone about what had happened today and more importantly yesterday. Standing at the door frame, he reluctantly agreed.

Finally when Brooke was alone, she gathered the two cups of finished cocoa and washed them thoroughly. As she was washing the cups she started to think if only it was that easy to wash her problems away.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you all who responded, I appreciate all your reviews!


	4. Start From The Outside and Work Your Way

Dedicated to my first 9 reviewers, especially to BrookenRachel for giving me encouraging words to keep writing this story.

Chapter Four- Start From The Outside and Work Your Way In

-RING RING-

"EHLO?"

"Oh, sorry Brooke, I didn't mean to wake you, well actually I sort of did because you said a week ago that you would be able to take Jamie today. It's been really hectic at the studio considering Peyton's not here so I'm pretty much managing myself…" Haley went on and on and Brooke could barely keep up, let alone open her eyes.

"…so does that sound good?" Haley asked finally.

Brooke replied, "Ya, I'll be there in a few." After getting off the phone with Haley, Brooke stood up from what she thought was her room only to find out by bumping her knee on the coffee table that she had slept in the living room. She forgot that she had fallen asleep there, if only she could also forget what happened a few nights ago.

"AUNT BROOKE!" Jamie ran up to Brooke, who looked like she normally did prior to the attack.

_Concealer really is a girl's best friend,_ She thought as Jamie jumped up in the air for her to carry him. Brooke, always excited to see him, looked at him with a beaming but painful smile because of the bruises and sores on her arm, as she caught him up in midair.

"Hey Monkey Man! Ready to spend the day with me?" Jamie nodded as his kind blue eyes smiled at her.

Haley was standing near the doorframe with a pen over her ear and a notebook clasped under her arm. Haley noticed Brooke looking at it and answered, "This is just some doodling for a new song I'm suppose to finish by Thursday."

"Mama, can we go now, pleeeeeeeeease!?" Jamie impatiently said giving his mom his trademark puppy dog eyes.

"Oh alright, you be a good boy okay, buddy?" He nodded as his mom gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Daddy will pick you up at 2," Haley looked at Brooke, "he said he had some business he had to take care of so I think he is at the Rivercourt conditioning." Brooke just politely smiled.

Driving around town Brooke asked Jamie what he wanted to do.

"I wanna go to your store so I can watch TV."

Trying to think of a good excuse on the spot, she said, "Jamie, you are suppose to have fun and what's the fun in watching TV when you could just stay at home and watch."

He retorted, "but you have a 52-inch widescreen plasma TV," pushing his luck he unleashed his puppy dog eyes.

Brooke looked over at her rear view mirror, "As handsome as you are that's not gonna work on–" no sooner had she finished her sentence Jamie added new techniques to his puppy dog eyes; the lower lip and the fluttering of his eyelashes, "—me."

Scared to lose, but him winning her over, Brooke warned, "_Clothes Over Bro's_ is actually being renovated which means there is going to be a huge pile of messy clothes everywhere, kind of like your stinky room."

"Hey!" Jamie said sticking out his tongue, "you have to clean your place, Brooke, or else you might go to jail like grandpa." And with that the conversation started to dawdle down.

Brooke had to face the inevitable. She had to get used to being inside her store again, but to her surprise it had been easier to step inside than she realized. Everything was back on racks, clothes were sectioned off to the fall and spring collection, her first check she received from the store was newly reframed, and the mannequins stood upright. The mannequins' ensemble, however, was horrible pleated plaid pants matched with a floral minidress obviously confused as a long shirt and topped off with an embellished yellow cab car color clutch.

"What the f--" Jamie looked straight up at her, "…fruit cake happened to my store?"

Jamie replied in a matter of fact tone, "Remember, you're re-nerve-eating"

"Ren-o-vating, Jamie." Nathan corrected him. This time he was wearing a tattered white tee with a pair of even more rugged jeans all under his utility belt.

"Say what, Jamie, how about you go to the back and help draw some sketches for my new boys line. Could you help me design capes, please?" Brooke didn't take her eyes off Nathan and neither did he sheepishly.

"COOL!!" and with that Jamie ran straight to the back room.

Nathan couldn't read Brooke's expression as she walked towards him.

"Look, Brooke, I know you might be mad, but I know how hard it is to deal with something this traumatic unless you have a frien--"

Brooke wrapped her arms around him and whispered thank you to Nathan's relief. He let out a sigh and walked around her new interior designed store.

"So, I divided things from the Fall Collection to the Spring Collection."

"Surprisingly, you did" Brooke followed, while poking around through the clothes racks.

Scratching his head he replied, "Yeah, well I saw the store catalogue Millicent left, so it helped a lot."

"Oh, and I tried dressing up the mannequins but I don't think it turned out as well as I expected," Nathan said looking up at one of the mannequins.

"Sure it did, Nate. If you were expecting to dress up a homeless person," Brooke laughed.

"Hey," Nathan said smiling, "That's the thanks I get for fixing up your store!"

Brooke's laughter stopped and Nathan thought he had said the wrong thing.

"I…umm…was just joking" Nathan said feeling he was on shaky grounds.

"It's not you, it just reminded me of something that's all."

It didn't remind her of something, yet it did remind her of someone.

"_Brooke, you are such a child…This is the thanks I get for helping you…Remember if it wasn't for me there would be no Clothes Over Bro's."_

"DADDY, AUNT BROOKE!" Jamie ran towards them hands in the air with a paper and his cape flapping along behind him.

"Let's see what you got, Jimmy Jam." He picked up Jamie and gave the drawing to Brooke while looking over her shoulder.

The drawing had three people hand in hand; a woman, a man, and a boy. They all had their backs facing forward and each wore a different type of cape. The woman with curly brown hair had a purple cape down to her elbow. On the corner of the cape there was a sparkling "B" on it. The Man next to her, also had brown hair, was wearing a royal blue cape down to his ankles with a lining of black fabric. Lastly, the boy had a long cap down to his ankles and looked pretty much similar like Jamie with his red cape and blonde hair.

"This is Amazing, buddy!" Brooke turned around, scuffled his hair, and kissed his cheek.

"I know," Jamie smiled.

"You think after you are done you could drop that by the house so we can hang that on our fridge as proof that Jamie owns 15 percent of your profit," Nathan joked.

"Ha ha," Brooke said sarcastically.

"If it's alright with you, Brooke, I was wondering if I can take Jamie out for the rest of the day? Besides, you can have you hands free to fix the mannequins the way you like," Nathan stated as he gave her a smile.

"Sure, but I want a raincheck with my favorite godson."

"I'm your only godson," Jamie replied.

Nathan headed out the door with Jamie in his arms as Jamie waved goodbye to Brooke and the 52-inch widescreen plasma TV he didn't get to watch.

Brooke turned around facing her store, took a deep breath, and knew that today would be the start of something better.


	5. Being Helpful Doesn't Really Help at All

Chapter Five- Being Helpful Doesn't Really Help at All

After the long day Jamie and Nathan had together going to the park they got home at 6 pm. Haley was in the living room with her feet resting on the coffee table.

"Chester needs to eat something, why don't you go to your room and get him, okay, Jim Bob?" Haley said in exhaust.

Jamie nodded his head and headed up the stairs. Nathan sat down adjacent to her and asked her how her day was while rubbing her feet.

Haley placed her feet on the floor and said, "Why didn't you call me and tell me that you two were going to be gone for four hours longer than expected?"

"Haley, Jamie and I just went to the park I guess I lost track of time, it's no big deal," Nathan said being to feel frustrated.

"Yeah, I guess it really isn't a big deal for someone who doesn't really take care of Jamie half as much as I do" Haley retorted.

"Wait, are we really going there, Hales" he asked appalled.

Catching what she had just said she replied, "I'm sorry, it's just been a really long day, I can't write a good song, and I'm just really tired. I just thought you were conditioning for basketball and then come straight home because we had plans to make dinner together for family night."

"No, Mama. Daddy was at Brooke's shop, helping her ren…o…vate" Jamie said helpfully and went to the kitchen with his bunny, Chester.

Haley looked at Nathan, "I thought you said you were at the Rivercourt."

"I didn't say I was going there, I just said I had something to take care of."

"But you didn't say you were going to Brooke's either." Haley said as she stood up and walked to the hall.

"You knew that I was gonna pick up Jamie" Nathan said thinking that Haley was blowing things way out of proportion.

"Yes! You were going to pick him UP, but I never assumed you would be in the store when they got there!" Haley yelled.

"Hales…"

_It is happening all over again_, Haley thought. She still had her insecurites about Nathan and other women, but something about him lying or refraining from the truth really made her worry about their relationship.

"No, I don't understand why you would not tell me the truth about going to Brooke's unless you are hiding something," Haley commented close to tears, " are you hiding something, Nathan?"

Nathan was at a crossroads. He didn't know whether to betray Brooke's trust or lie to his wife. _If I tell Haley the truth then Brooke will never speak to me and she really needs someone right now, or I could lie, but I would never want to lie to my wife._

"I'm waiting, Nathan" Haley looked at him now tears streaming down her face.

Nathan locked eyes with his wife, and he couldn't bear to see her hurting for something that obviously was not true. He knew that whatever he was going to say now would come back with consequences that he could not have imagined.

"If I tell you, you promise to not tell anyone…."

Haley wiped away her tears and fearfully nodded.


	6. Half of What You Know

Chapter Six- Half of What You Know is More Than Enough

Shuffling through papers and writing notes on her agenda, "_Make New Sketches," _Brooke Davis was off to a great start to re-open her store.

-Knock Knock-

Brooke turned around to see Haley miming at the window to open the door. Brooke walked towards the door and let her in. They both sat at the lounge area and Brooke asked her what's up.

"Well, I was wondering if you would want to do something with me?" Haley asked excitedly.

"I actually have a lot of work to do at the store today so I don't think I will be able to."

"Oh! I don't mean today I meant this Friday because I saw this bulletin at school today about self-defense classes so I wanted to know if you would want to go with me?"

Brooke was taken aback and looked at her suspiciously, _maybe this is a coincidence,_ she thought to herself. Thinking about it she just went along with it, "Self-defense? This is Tree Hill people don't really need it here."

Haley looked serious, "well I heard around the news that there has been a lot of robberies in the past few months so it's never bad to be prepared. Expected the unexpected, right?"

Brooke didn't want to fight so she just said, "yeah…I guess, let me just think about it."

Brooke stood up as a cue for Haley to know it was time for her to go. Haley got the idea, dropped the brochure on the coffee table and grabbed her bag.

"Just think about it okay?"

Brooke nodded and went back to work.

...

Brooke took the brochure and locked up the store. Driving around she kept thinking about Haley's surprise invitation the more that she thought about it the more she believed that Nathan did tell Haley about what had happened. She raced down to the Rivercourt in hope that we would be there.

Ten minutes later she saw a guy walking to his car.

"Hey!" Brooke shouted hitting him with the pamphlet. Nathan turned around and saw what she was holding.

"You want to know who gave me this?! Hmm… Haley!"

Nathan didn't say anything. He just kept listening to Brooke.

"I really wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt that it was a coincidence, but I thought about it on the way here and it turns out that I'm right. You did tell Haley, didn't you?"

Finally, Brooke gave Nathan a chance to speak only problem was, Nathan didn't know how to explain himself. Then he didn't have to because Brooke interjected again and said, "unbelievable!"

She started to walk back to her car.

"Wait!" Nathan grabbed her arm, "I didn't tell her everything! I just said that someone robbed your store, I never said you were hurt!"

Brooke swung her arm so he released her involuntarily from his grip.

"Just saying half the truth is more than enough." Brooke said coldly while walking away once more. Nathan just stayed at where she had left him. Brooke stopped from a distance turned around to face him one last time.

"You know, you act as if you know me, better yet of what happened to me, BUT YOU DON'T! I don't even know who I am anymore, so stop trying to play NATHAN SCOTT THE HERO and just keep our so-called "friendship" the way it's suppose to be…. non-existent."

Brooke walked out of the Rivercourt and into her car and drove off.

...

"What's wrong, Daddy?" Jamie asked as he petted Chester in his bedroom.

"Have you ever told on someone because it was the right thing to do?"

"I told on Abigail when she took my crayons without asking and she got mad," Nathan could relate as Jamie continued, "But then the next day I let her play with Chester and she wasn't mad anymore."

Nathan chuckled, tucked Jamie in and kissed him goodnight.

...

Brooke woke up to a huge hang over and proceeded to walk out the door but someone opened it in unison and she peered out to find Peyton at the other side of the door.

"Hey, B. Davis!" Peyton said while flinging her arms around Brooke. "Look at this!"

She showed her engagement right that had been previously worn by two different girls prior to her, but rightfully on the right finger this time.

"So look," Peyton started as she put her luggage on the ground and walked Brooke to the living room, "I know our wedding was sudden and without anyone there to witness it, and I'm really sorry. It was just the spur of the moment, madly in love type of thing you know?"

Brooke rested her head in her hand. "What's wrong?" Peyton asked.

"Peyton, you don't have to apologize. I'm just happy that you are happy" she paused, "are you happy?"

Peyton laughed, "Of course I am! I also wanted to tell you that it's my last day here. I'm moving in with Lucas tomorrow."

She completely forgot that that's what married people do, she just didn't realize it would be so quickly. "Only natural" was all that Brooke could muster giving a deceitful smile.

A moment later Peyton had a worried look on her face.

"You think you are going to be okay to live here all alone by yourself?"

"Story of my life," and with that Brooke left the house.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Did you not just love 6x03 scene with Brooke and Nathan!?


	7. Forgive, Please Forget

Chapter Seven: Forgive, Please Forget

"Umm…it's been two weeks already, I'm really...look I don't think it's cool to leave an apology through an answering machine so…please…call me back. Bye."

"Next Message," the automated voice said.

"Hi Brooke, I'm sorry about the ambush at your store. I shouldn't have waved that pamphlet in your face. I should have just listened to how you felt. I'm worried and Nathan is too. Ok, hope to hear from you soon."

"Next Message"

"Aunt Brooke? Why won't you come visit anymore? I miss you. Please…what am I suppose to say again, Daddy?"

Brooke chuckled for the first time in two weeks as she heard Nathan whispering in the background, "Oh yeah right," Jamie continued, "I would want my drawing of the capes back like you promised so come visit me pleaseeeeeeeeeee"

Brooke, still smiling, shut off the answering machine and picked up the phone and made a call.

"Hello, Nathan speaking."

"Really cheap shot using Jamie like that"

Nathan ecstatic to hear from Brooke leaned against the wall, "Hey, it worked."

"Watch it, mister, I'm still upset with you about everything," she contemplated for a moment whether to continue to talk to him or hang up, but continued, "but a promise is a promise. I'll be there in ten with Jamie's design."

And with that the conversation ended as she pulled Jamie's design off her kitchen table. Before she left, she looked at herself in the mirror and all her bruises faded within the last two weeks. She removed her sunglasses that once helped hide her face, out of her bag.

She wasn't going to hide, not anymore.

"Hey Brooke, I'm really glad you came!" Haley said as she grabbed Brooke in a tight embrace.

"Thanks, I am too." Brooke gave Haley Jamie's drawing, "Here, Jamie…uh… well, Nathan wanted this back."

Haley took it and looked at it for the first time, two brown haired man and woman with a blonde little boy all wearing capes. "How cute," Haley smirked. Brooke turned around and was headed to her car and Haley stopped her, "Hey, do you want to have dinner with us?"

"Umm…" Brooke honesty didn't know what to say.

"Oh come on, Tigger, gotta eat sometime," Haley said as she swayed left and right.

"Fine," Brooke knew this was going to be an interesting night.

The dinner table was set for three; Nanny Deb took Jamie out with her mystery man. The aroma of the room smelled of chestnuts, and roast beef. This definitely worried Brooke considering there were a nice set of plates and napkins, which were used only on special occasions. She really thought that they were really sorry and just sucking up now.

Nathan and Brooke just sat at the living room waiting for the food. They were across from each other so it was hard to look straight ahead. Brooke thought it was so much easier to forgive Haley but wasn't so true with Nathan. They both just sat there waiting for the other to strike up a conversation, yet it never happened. Brooke just looked behind his head at the dinner table again.

"Come on guys, dinner's ready!" Haley shouted from the kitchen.

Both awkwardly stood up waiting for someone to walk ahead. Nathan raised his arm as a sign for her to go ahead of him as she walked past him.

After dinner, Nathan, Haley, and Brooke stayed sitting in their seats drinking coffee. Haley talked throughout the whole night so it made it easier for Nathan and Brooke to not have to speak to each other directly.

Brooke thought that if Haley were to be preoccupied with whatever topic she felt passionate about, no matter how much it bored herself, she wouldn't have to pretend to play nice with Nathan. Haley didn't drink much of her coffee considering her appealing stories of what type of music she wanted to record or how frustrating her students were because they would not keep up with the reading assignments.

"I mean, you'd think kids would love to read! But no, they just like watching the TV. Get this, I asked them to read Romeo and Juliet and the next day when I asked one of my students to describe how Juliet looks like, she told me she looked like Claire Danes!"

Brooke finally looked at Nathan and she could tell that he was uninterested of the topic just like she was, but he still had that loving look in his eyes as he listened to her talk.

"Honestly, I remember when we were in high school, I'd love to read! I thought they much rather read than write an assignment." Haley finally took a breath and reached for her cup of coffee. She drank of all of its contents within minutes.

There was a complete lull and Haley finally caught on, "what's going on? You guys okay?" She looked at Nathan and back to Brooke, "Did the dinner suck?"

"NO! Not at all the food was goo-" Brooke hesitated to finish as she pursed her lips. She felt something perch to her throat as she quickly turned to the side and puked all over the hardwood floor.

"I'm really sorry, Haley," Brooke said as she laid on the couch.

"Don't worry, it can be cleaned up. Besides I'm used to this when Jamie was a baby." Haley smiled at Brooke as Nathan grabbed the mop and started cleaning up the mess.

"Just lay for a while," Haley paused, "Sorry my food made you sick."

"No it wasn't your…." Brooke's stomach began to churn. "Okay, it was your cooking," Brooke finally admitted as she and Haley laughed.

"You could stay here for the night if you want," Haley said hospitably.

"Thanks, but I think I should be getting home." Brooke tried to stand but she still felt queasy. Haley helped steady her as she called out to Nathan in the dinning room, "Nate, do you mind taking Brooke home?"

Nathan rested the mop on the wall and met up with the two girls. "Brooke's really not feeling well and she wants to go home so could you take her?"

He hadn't talk to her the whole night, but he thought driving her home would probably be the only time he could talk to her. Also, an added bonus that she wasn't feeling well so she wouldn't be too opposed of listening or talking to him. "Sure."

Nathan pulled her one arm over his neck as he put his hand over her waist and sat her down to the passenger seat of her car. He reclined her chair enough to make her still rest as he got in her driver's seat. Haley peeped her head out of the window of Brooke's car door.

"Sorry again for making you sick," Haley said with an overly expressive sad face.

"It's alright, I think I also stressed myself out because of the last couple of weeks." Brooke stated as she pulled her hand over the open window and caressed Haley's arm.

"Yeah, okay, well we should do this again," Haley half heartedly smiled, "well, excluding the whole, 'getting sick and throwing up part.' Get well, Brooke."

Nathan's plan of apologizing to Brooke didn't pan out as well as he had planned. They didn't speak when he drove to her house, they didn't speak when he removed her seatbelt or when he helped her to the front door. They didn't speak when she gave him her key to open the door, and they certainly didn't speak when he let go of her when she finally was on the bed.

_Last chance to say something_

"I'm sorry"

Nathan looked shocked, he definitely didn't see or rather hear that coming.

"I'm sorry, Nate" she said again.

Nathan sat on the bed close to her as she continued, "I was stupid. I couldn't see what you were really trying to do when you told Haley. I was just really scared. I hate feeling so fragile."

Brooke's eyes were getting teary as she finally admitted it.

"You're not stupid," Nathan finally spoke, "like I said before, I'm here for you, so if you need anything I'm just a phone call away."

Brooke slightly smiled and felt comforted that someone cared and didn't see her as a stupid little girl. Nathan stood up from the bed and headed for the doorway. "If it counts," he said as he looked over his shoulder, "to me, you're pretty strong, Brooke Davis."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: BOO and SHAME ON ME for not updating in very long!! Sorry folks, but a girl's got school and Internet bills that weren't paid. Shhh! Thanks for being so patient! The creative juices are flowing again, so hopefully this chapter does my time away justice. Please Review and tell me what you guys think!


	8. The Unwelcome

Chapter 8- The Unwelcome

The bright light was blinding; the air was cool against her skin as she waited in her lackluster encampment. This is the only place she knew that definitely took her out of her element. The room had a sort of eerie feel to it, which did not sit well with her at all. Waiting on her sentence. in this prison, felt like forever. She pulled out her compact and was taken aback at how deathly pale she was, making her hazel eyes much more prominent.

"Mrs. Davis?"

Brooke raised her hand as if she was guilty, "Miss…Davis" she corrected the woman.

"Oh, I see." She annotated something in the folder, which was labeled _B. Davis_.

She rested her folder near the sink while Brooke placed her palms under her thighs as she swung her legs to and fro. Seeing how the woman was still taking notes, Brooke looked around the room to see if there was anything to keep her preoccupied. There were posters, brochures, and magazines and right on top was the "_B. Davis" _magazine had to be the one on top.

***

The woman placed her icy fingers against her stomach.

"So, how long have you lived here in Tree Hill since leaving your fabulous life in New York?"

Aside from being probed at, Brooke could sense the condescending tone in the woman's voice.

'_Just like Victoria,' _Brooke thought. "Ow, that hurt!"

The woman gestured Brooke that she could sit back up. She examined the folder again and wrote down notes. Turning to Brooke she asked, "When did your sickness first occur?"

"It happened one week ago. I ate at my friend's house for dinner," Brooke kept looking down at her feet as she continued, "After the meal I pretty much," Brooke finally made eye contact at the woman as Brooke placed her hands near her mouth while making a gagging sound.

The women simply nodded and continued to take notes.

"And this was the only occurrence?"

"No it comes and goes, I've been really stressed pretty much ever since I came back home."

"Why don't you leave?"

"Excuse me" Brooke spoke in shock. She really had enough of miss annoyingly annotating woman.

"I said, 'Can you pee'" as she held up a jar. _'Oh, right' _seeing how Brooke was thoroughly embarrassed, she faintly smiled and took the jar heading for the restroom.

Finally finished with her exam, she went to the receptionist's desk to check if everything was sorted.

"Mrs. Davis, we do not need to see you until your test results are given to us," the perky receptionist cheered.

Brooke was way too exhausted to coax a Bevin 2.0 and simply said, "What is the test for anyway."

"Silly goose, didn't the doctor tell you" Brooke shook her head with her widen eyes and opened mouth, "To see if you are healthy as your assumed bun in the oven!"

Brooke's mouth dropped even wider. Brooke thought either A. this crazy Bevin wannabe is referring Brooke's bun as a lighter not as a slight weight gain or B. she meant...

The "Bevin 2.0" stood over her desk and began to pet Brooke's stomach and making idiotic noise while saying, "Hello there!"

And with that Brooke began to feel light-headed and fainted.

* * *

Author's Note:

It's my spring break so I wanted to update this story, no I had not called quits on it. Did you?

If (which there probably are grammatical mistakes; they are my own. I do not have someone to help edit it so please bear with it for future chapters.)


	9. The Aftermath

**Please Read Author's Note**

Chapter 9: The Aftermath

"The most difficult is the period of indecision - whether to fight or run away. And the most dangerous period is the aftermath. It is then, with all his resources spent and his guard down, that an individual must watch out for dulled reactions and faulty judgment." -Richard M. Nixon

"Hello," a recognizable voice resonated loud and clear, "Brooke, stop being childish and open this door!" Regrettably, she slowly opened the door.

"Good morning, Victoria" said Brooke with a forced smile, "Won't you come in?" By this time Victoria stood in her living room while her judgmental eyes roamed around the house.

"Please, good is far from this morning" Victoria scoffed, "Where the hell have you been?"

"I've been working here in Tree Hill" Brooke stated deadpanned.

"Like hell you've been," Victoria retorted, "I went to the store, you haven't opened in the last three days. I knew you could not handle this alone. I'm going back to New York this afternoon and you 're -"

Brooke interrupted, "You can spare your eyebrows from another Botox appointment and just leave Tree Hill without me. I'm not going anywhere!"

Victoria stood ridged, shook her head, and rolled her eyes. She walked closer to Brooke with a much more concerned look in her eyes. Brooke looked back at her as she tried her best not to let her mother in.

Victoria caressed her daughter's hair, "Honey, you are like a unique flower." Seeing how Brooke was highly unmoved she added, "Someone is suppose to take care and protect you, not use and give you to someone who will take advantage and that someone is me."

Brooke chuckled, "Exactly…except I'm confused, are you suppose to be the one who takes advantage of me or supposedly takes care of me?"

Victoria reverted back to her stern self, "WE don't have much time left to listen to your dramatics about your childhood."

She walked to the kitchen counter, pulled out a ticket from her bag, and placed it on the table. "If you insist on being a child, so be it. I just pity the child that has to be brought up by you," and with that she slammed the door and left.

Brooke yelled after her, "Yeah! Well, I can say the same to you!"

The phone rang and Brooke irritably picked it up, "Hello"

"Hey, Angry Brooke" Nathan jokingly said, "Are you alright?"

"Hi, I'm sorry I just saw Witch-toria"

"That bad, huh?"

"To say the least"

There was a slight pause in their conversation so Nathan thought he'd just get to the point as to why he was calling.

"So, I was wondering if you were free later today because we haven't really properly hung out after the whole argument?"

Unsure, Brooke asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"Maybe meet at the Rivercourt? Catch up on what's been going on with you? I have to do some drills and I could use the company so it's like killing two ravens with one basketball."

Brooke smiled, "I think it's two birds with one stone"

"You know English was never my strong suit, besides I'm pretty good with a basketball if you hadn't noticed. So what do you say?"

"Oh, gosh! I'll let you know."

"Sounds good, see you later."

As soon as Brooke put the receiver down the phone rang again.

"You are pretty persistent, Nathan Scott."

"I'm sorry, do I have the wrong number? I'm trying to reach Brooke Davis."

"Oh this is she. Whom am I speaking with?"

"This is Laney, from Dr. Oxford's office. We have your test results back. Would you like to come by to the office to receive the results or continue over the phone?"

"Over the phone is fine," Brooke replied as she gripped the receiver tighter.

"Okay, the test results show that your blood sugar is a little bit above normal, but that can be treated with a proper diet and all else considered you are perfectly healthy."

"That's great" she answered, "How about the pregnancy or lack there of?"

"Yes," Brooke wondered the 'yes' as to which she could be referring to, "You are almost two months pregnant congratulations!"

Brooke put her hand to her forehead as some tears rolled down from her face. Tearfully she replied, "Is…there…anything I could do?"

"Oh, I know this is probably a joyous day for you! You can set up another appointment with us in a couple more weeks so Dr. Oxford can send you to the right obstetrician."

Brooke uncomfortably corrected her, "I meant to get rid of it" Brooke realized how cruel that sounded and retorted, "What I mean to say is that this certainly was not planned and shouldn't be planned not like this."

"I see, my apologies. Again, I can make an appointment with you to see the doctor to further help you in your decision. Just call when you know your schedule."

"Thanks," Brooke put the receiver down.

Brooke's thoughts were going a mile a minute. What should she do? Should meet with Nate and confide in him? Should she go to New York with Victoria? She would have much more work and people there to help her if she decides to keep the baby or should she just get an….

No, she couldn't even think it. One man took her life and replaced it with another inside her. She fully immersed herself in all her thoughts and finally made a decision.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

What do you think about the quotes in the beginning? I thought it would be a fun idea to put in from time to time in some chapters that really encompasses the story.

I am slowly getting back to writing for this story. As of right now I strictly am writing for myself. I do not have any beta reader so if there are any grammatical/spelling errors that are prominent in reading I will consider finding one.

I had an idea to where this story was heading but after rethinking it I scraped the idea so I'm turning to the readers for support. What do you see for the future of Brathan?

Again, feedback is gratefully appreciated. If you are interested please check out my profile, as there is new info I have shared on there. Until next time 3


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